Men's Basketball Remains Unbeaten At Home With 80-72 Win Over LIU

Feb 13, 2010

HAMDEN,
Conn. - James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) scored a career-high 23 points
as the Quinnipiac University men's basketball team defeated Long
Island, 80-72, in front of a season-high 2,836 on Senior Day,
Saturday afternoon at the TD Bank Sports Center. With the win, the
Bobcats improve to 18-7 (12-2 NEC), including a perfect 11-0 at
home and 15-0 in the state of Connecticut. The win also secures an
NEC Tournament berth for the fifth straight year. The 18 wins and
12 league victories tie the 1999-2000 Quinnipiac team (18-10, 12-6
NEC) for the most in program Division I history. The Blackbirds
fall to 10-15 (8-6 NEC) with the loss.

James
Feldeine (New York, N.Y.) added 17 points and eight rebounds, while
Jeremy Baker (Washington, D.C.) had 15 points. Justin Rutty
(Newburgh, N.Y.) narrowly missed a double-double with eight points
and a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with a team-high four
assists.

Jaytornah
Wisseh led LIU with 22 points, while also contributing seven
rebounds and six assists. David Hicks had 14 points, while Jamal
Olasewere added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

"I'm pleased
because we're getting wins. It's sort of been the story of the
season," said Quinnipiac Head Coach Tom Moore. "We're playing well
enough to win these games and we win them in a lot of different
ways, too. Tonight, (LIU) did a good job on Justin, collapsing on
him and we didn't get him a lot of touches. But James Johnson steps
up and plays terrific. Jeremy Baker was really alive in the second
half offensively. Even someone like Deontay Twyman doesn't play
well all game, but plays well late at both ends. This team
continues to be very pragmatic in finding ways to win games, and
that's a comforting feeling for me as a head coach. I always say
that winning begets winning and losing begets losing and we seem to
be on the favorable end of that wave right now."

The
Blackbirds led by as many as six points in the first half, before
Quinnipiac took its first lead of the game, 24-23, at the
seven-minute mark of the initial stanza on a fast-break lay-up by
Baker. LIU retook the lead, 31-30, three minutes later on Wisseh's
jumper. But Rutty's lay-up at the 3:20 mark put the Bobcats on top
for good.

Quinnipiac
took its largest lead of the game, 10 points, on Deontay Twyman's
(Olney, Md.) jumper at the 9:42 mark of the second half. LIU would
cut the deficit to three points on three occasions, but could get
no closer.

For the
game, the Bobcats outshot the Blackbirds, 46.2 percent (30-65) to
42.4 percent (25-59) from the floor, 54.5 percent (6-11) to 37.5
percent (6-16) from long range, and 73.7 percent (14-19) to 69.6
percent (16-23) from the free-throw line. Quinnipiac was
outrebounded for the first time in 25 games this season, 39-38.

The Bobcats
return to action Thursday, when they travel to Loretto, Pa., to
take on Saint Francis (Pa.). Opening tip from DeGol Arena is
scheduled for 7:30 p.m.